Emeril Lagasse cannot put away the butter. Or the cream, crème fraîche, white flour, olive oil, fried batters, béchamel, roux, mayonnaise and fatty beef. “Emeril Green” on Planet Green, a new offering by the Discovery Networks, is supposed to promote easy, healthy ways to prepare nutritious, eco-friendly dishes. As he strolls the aisles of a Whole Foods Market, Mr. Lagasse mainly points out organic foods while waving a green felt-tip pen.

Recent recipes have included chocolate soufflé (cage-free eggs) and fried, breaded eggplant topped by a white shrimp-crab béchamel sauce. The diet lentil salad he prepared for a woman trying to maintain her 130-pound weight loss came topped with a fried egg. Layering organic tomato, lettuce and avocado on a hamburger — on a brioche bun — for a picky teenager, Mr. Lagasse, the Louisiana-trained chef, implored her to let him add mayonnaise.

“How about just a little bit?” he urged. “Because it’s homemade.”